DEAR FATHER

Below is a letter I wrote to my Parish Priest four years ago. Mind you I NO longer go to this Church because I was tired of being insulted. I don't go to church to hear about politics! I go to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It is only He who can change lives and set people free! Too much government leads to slavery...........We have seen this in the black culture, the government has replaced the father! We face the same issue in this race except that the Catholic who is for abortion is running for Vice President! The Democratic nominee for President is the most pro abortion politician out there! He thinks it's even ok to kill a baby that is living after a botched abortion. As Mother Teresa has said what can come of a Nation that kills the innocent in the womb? God have Mercy!

October 25, 2004

Dear Father,

After thought and prayer, I’ve decided to respond to your repeated statements that, “we should not vote on just one issue.” I’m assuming you are referring to abortion? Frankly, I’m very insulted by this. Every time you make this statement, I feel that my integrity as a thoughtful citizen and an informed Catholic is impugned. I was raised neither Democrat nor Republican; in fact, my parents did not even vote. I admit I first voted Republican because of the abortion issue, but I don’t apologize for that fact in the least. I happen to believe that abortion is the single most important human rights issue we face as a society. If the single issue were slavery, would you still say not to vote on just one issue?

Father, I’m an educated adult. I have my Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and my Master’s in Theology. I keep up on issues and I read a lot. The more I learn about the Democratic party, the more convinced I am that the Republican Party best supports and protects my Catholic Christian values. My commitment to Christ and His Church guides and directs me, not one party platform or the other. We will always have disagreements in the civic arena. How high should the minimum wage be? How can we best educate our young people? What are appropriate levels and modes of taxation? These are questions to be worked out in the political process about which the church has no specialized knowledge. Yet, as Catholics, we are called to discern the truth in public policy and to decide which candidate best addresses our concerns and reflects the moral values needed to guide our country.

There are core truths we as Catholics must rally behind. I’ve prayerfully worked to form my conscience through Church teaching and I unequivocally believe that abortion is EVIL Human reason enlightened by faith tells us so. Knowing what I know about the evil of abortion, I’m convinced it would be a serious SIN for me to vote for Kerry or any other politician who makes policy to condemn the innocent unborn. I realize you oppose the war and you have your own reasons for doing so. But I believe with my whole heart that we will never have peace in our country or the world as long as we murder innocent babies in the womb. In the United States alone we slaughter 4,000 innocent lives a day.

We cannot have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without LIFE first. Yes, I am voting Republican because they protect the most defenseless, the baby in the womb. But that’s not the only reason I’ll vote for our current President. He also gets my vote because he stands:

· Against Euthanasia

· Against Embryonic Stem Cell Research (though he has allocated millions
for adult stem cell research, which the Church approves).

· Against Human Cloning

· Against Homosexual Marriage (Unions are also wrong; they only lead to the slippery slope of legalizing homosexual marriage, just as contraception has led to the widespread practice of abortion and an increase in immorality).

Our President and the Republican Party are also for school vouchers, while Democrats fight them all the way. As a matter of fact, Democrats are losing some of their black voters over this issue as well as gay marriage.

As a social worker, I’ve seen first-hand what the welfare system has done! We’ve created a culture of women who do not think they need fathers because the State will pay them, and then live in poverty and the cycle continues. I encounter seniors who only want to know what the government is going to give them and only care about themselves. I don’t like what I see. Entitlement programs are NOT good for our nation. They make us selfish and self-focused. It’s not the government’s job to take care of us. We can either give a man a fish or teach him to fish, and I believe Republicans do the latter.

What is so desperately needed is the conversion of hearts and souls. Catholics with values have been discriminated against over and over by Democrats who oppose their values and won’t allow them to be judges. Kerry has promised he would not nominate a Supreme Court Judge who is Pro-Life. What a scandal! But, of course, it’s no surprise. With Kerry in office, crimes against the defenseless unborn will continue. I think John Kerry, Jennifer Granholm, and other Catholics like them are a scandal to the Catholic Church.

Did you know John Kerry has voted 6 times against banning the barbaric practice of partial birth abortion? He voted to spend taxpayer dollars to fund abortion at least 25 times! He opposed Laci and Conner’s Law, which recognizes that when a crime is committed against a pregnant mother, two lives are victimized. Of course, we know where our Catholic Governor stands. May God have mercy on our nation if Kerry is elected president!

We can agree to disagree, Father. That’s probably the best we can do. But just as you struggle to understand how anyone could vote for Bush, I clearly don’t understand how any Catholic could vote for John Kerry.

Yours in Christ,



Lisa